Hiding in Plain Sight
by FantasyLover100
Summary: It's been three years since the fall of Arclight and the group had all gone their separate ways. A lot has happened in three years, and when they finally reunite, something has happened with Cruz. For one thing, he has a new group and… he's more ruthless. What exactly happened in those three years?
1. Prologue

_**Because I just got back into my Needless fetish and thought "Why the hell not?" sooo, BAMF!Cruz, and a confused rest of them. Anybody else notice that everyone forgets about the fire dude? Like, seriously, no one likes him and I forgot his name. XD I think it's like… Momiji Tara-something or something like that. Btw, this story will not be following the manga. Usually I would follow the manga, but this wouldn't make sense if it did. Oh, but Cruz still has his Fragment, don't worry. Summary time!**_

_**Summary: It's been three years since the fall of Arclight and the group had all gone their separate ways. A lot has happened in three years, and when they finally reunite, something has happened with Cruz. For one thing, he has a new group and… he's more ruthless. What exactly happened in those three years?**_

_**Yep. BAMF!Cruz for sure. Because, you know, I just can't stand him being so weak a lot of the time.**_

_**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Needless. If I did, Cruz would be hiding some sort of secret that could jeopardize the world… **_

_**ENJOY!**_

Prologue

Four people stood on a cliff that looked down on the Black Spot. There were two boys, and one guy. The other one wore a cloak to hide their face as they looked down blankly.

"This is where you used to live?" One girl asked the one who wore a cloak, who nodded. The girl had long, dark blue hair reaching her knees and cold green eyes.

"It's very… interesting," the boy commented. He had light blonde hair and ice blue eyes. The one wearing the cloak chuckled and nodded again.

"Yes, it is, isn't it?" The person said. Their voice held a sound of maturity and the person was most likely male.

"Where is our destination?" The other girl asked. She had short purple hair that went to her shoulders and hazel eyes. The one who wore the cloak shrugged.

"We'll know when we get there," he told her. "Crystal, can you make a slide for us or something?" He turned to the other girl, Crystal, who nodded.

"On it." She began lifting some of the earth out of the ground and forming them into a shape.

"You don't know where we're going?" The other girl said, scowling.

"I'm sorry Choko, but I haven't been here in three years," the cloak-wearing one said mockingly. "How should I know where everything is? Besides, I never made it a point to memorize everything."

"Now, now, this isn't the time to fight," the boy said. "We should focus on the mission. We have to find more people. Do you think _it_ has spread this far?" The one in the cloak nodded.

"Yes, it spreads quickly, Aaron, and it _has_ been two years since it was released," he replied. "It must have gotten here. Heck, it probably got to China by now." The boy, Aaron, frowned.

"It's done," Crystal announced. By her side was a car made of rocks and sand. "It should be able to just go straight down."

"Won't that be a bit too fast?" Choko asked. Crystal shook her head and looked at their final member of the group.

"What do you think, Cruz-sama?" She asked. The one wearing the cloak chuckled and took off the hood.

"Crystal-chan, how many times have I told you?" He said. "My name is simply Cruz Schild. I expect to just be called Cruz. Or at least Cruz-kun." Lo and behold, there stood Cruz Schild, with his green hair and light blue eyes. Except older, more mature… and with a colder look reflected in his eyes.

_**Yeah, yeah, yeah, not so mysterious, but whateverrr. It was obvious wasn't it? So, character profiles.**_

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_**Name: Crystal Fairclough**_

_**Age: 16**_

_**Gender: Female**_

_**Description: Knee length dark blue hair and green eyes.**_

_**Personality: She's very aloof and doesn't really show emotion. She follows whatever's she's told without question, but if you hurt anyone that she cares about, then you're a goner. She's very protective of the ones she cares about. She prefers to stay in the shadows.**_

_**Country of Origin: Canada**_

_**Fragment: Earth's Core (control of the earth)**_

_**Other: She's thought of as Cruz's bodyguard and never lets anyone touch him unless it's Aaron or Choko. She refers to him as Cruz-sama for some reason.**_

* * *

_**Name: Choko Kurosawa**_

_**Age: 16**_

_**Gender: Female**_

_**Description: Short, dark purple hair that goes to her shoulders and hazel eyes.**_

_**Personality: She has a violent temper and gets easily annoyed. She doesn't like being questioned and loves to fight. In reality, she's very soft, but only acts like this so she wouldn't get hurt in the future. If she needs to, she would shape her personality for the sake of the mission before going back to her normal self. She gets into fights with Aaron a lot.**_

_**Country or Origin: Japan**_

_**Fragment: Shadow Mist (can control shadows)**_

_**Other: Has a weakness for cute things.**_

* * *

_**Name: Aaron Aquila**_

_**Age: 18**_

_**Gender: Male**_

_**Description: Light blonde hair and ice blue eyes.**_

_**Personality: He's the peacemaker, but also has lots of fun. He's very energetic and likes to play games. He acts like a child at times, but when needed, he can be very serious and deadly. He protects those close to him and would happily sacrifice himself for the good of others. Sometimes he can get a bit overdramatic though.**_

_**Country of Origin: Italian, born in America**_

_**Fragment: Has none, but is good with many weapons and different forms of hands-on fighting.**_

_**Other: He's a very good liar.**_

_**And about Cruz's new personality, well, you'll figure that out in due time. Thank you, and please R&amp;R!**_


	2. Chapter 1

_**Eheheheh... So I meant to post this like, months ago, but it kinda sorta slipped my mind, and lately I've been super ultra busy. Like, my friends keep calling me to hang out and my cousin's birthday was last week and yada yada yada. Also I've been sort of focusing on writing my Hetalia fics so there's that. And then there's Writer's Block.**_

_**Okay, to Hikari-To-Cruz, who said:**_

Yay! Finally,another needless fic in which Cruz is not weak! This is my first time reviewing something. Hmm... interesting,indeed. What did happen after Aclight was defeated? Uhh...is this by any chance the second book of "The Dragon Royals series"? Just askin'

_**No, this is not the second book of The Dragon Royals series. The second book will come out when I'm done with the first book. Unfortunately, I have Writer's Block for the first book, so it may take a while.**_

_**To protagonist-Cruz, who said:**_

I wish you owned Needless now because of what you said in your disclaimer. Yay! Cruz still has his fragment. What is this 'it' they're talking about? I'm really,really,really,really,really curious about Cruz's new personality. What's Cruz and his group gonna do next? What does BAMF!Cruz mean? Is it like a bad-ass Cruz or something? This is one of the few(probably like 2 or 3) Needless fics that interest me.

_**You'll discover what this 'it' is in this chapter. Cruz's new personality will be shown in the next chapter. Well, you'll find out what Cruz's group is doing next right after this note! And BAMF means Bad Ass Mother Fucker. And thank you. I noticed that not many Needless fics have really good writing. No offense to you writers.**_

_**And finally, to TheSealer, who said:**_

So this is following the anime version, but Cruz has his manga fragment. Cool! Look forward to keep reading this. Are the Girl Squad gonna show up? And how has Cruz become more ruthless, as you say?  
Looks promising! Keep up

_**Hmm, I don't really know if I'll have the Girl Squad show up, but they might. And Cruz's ruthlessness will be shown in the next chapter or something like that. You'll just have to wait and see.**_

Chapter 1

"I heard that they would be in here," a 17 year old Cruz Schild commented, looking up at the sign on the café, _Black Heart._ His companions, Aaron Aquila, Choko Kurosawa, and Crystal Fairclough, stood behind him. Aaron wore a smile, Choko wore a scowl, and Crystal was fairly indifferent.

"That's a dark name," Aaron told Cruz, who nodded in agreement.

"Yes, but that's because this place is generally an information spot for travelling Needless," Cruz explained. "You can also buy stuff here. So it's basically a Black Market for the Black Spot with the added bonus of information and a bar. This is probably where they are, always searching for information."

"What are we waiting for?" Choko asked. "Let's go in." The group entered and, upon arrival, a bartender greeted them.

"Hello, do you need anything?" The bartender asked.

"Just a beer for me," Cruz told him. He looked at his friends. "Do you guys want anything?" The girls shook their heads while Aaron ordered a whiskey. After getting their drinks, they searched for a table, and Cruz spotted two familiar faces. He led his friends to the table and sat across from the two, flipping up the hood on his cloak.

"Who are you?" The light blue haired man asked. Cruz smirked under his hood and looked at his companions.

"He wants you to say your names first," Choko explained, barely holding back her own smirk. She knew Cruz, and she knew how much he wanted to surprise the two. "He thinks you two might have some information for him." The man growled.

"Adam Blade," he told them. "And this is Eve Neuschwanstein. Now who are you?"

"Hmm, well I guess I could show you," Cruz said, taking off his hood slowly. "I knew you'd have the information I was looking for. Long time no see, Father, Eve." Blade and Eve looked shocked.

"Yamada!" Eve exclaimed. "It's been years!" She went to hug him, but was blocked by a large sword held by Crystal, who had a dangerous look in her eyes.

"You will not touch Cruz-sama," Crystal said coldly. Cruz sighed and lowered Crystal's sword with his hand, ignoring the even more shocked looks on his old friends' faces.

"Crys-chan, how many times have I told you?" He scolded her lightly with an amused tone in his voice. "Stop calling me Cruz-sama. It's Cruz or Cruz-kun, remembered? And you don't need to stop everyone from touching me; I can handle things on my own."

"Cruz, who are these people?" Blade asked.

"Allow me to introduce myself!" Aaron exclaimed. "My name is the one, the only, AARON AQUILA!" Choko hit him on the head and scowled.

"Shut up you moron," she hissed. "The name's Choko Kurosawa. You better remember it."

"And this is Crystal Fairclough," Cruz introduced for the quiet girl who was still glaring at Eve. "She doesn't really talk much unless she's following orders, angry, or trying to protect me."

"I'll call you Drew, Izumi, and Mei for short!" Eve announced, pointing at Aaron (Drew), Choko (Izumi), and Crystal (Mei). Choko and Crystal glared at her while Aaron seemed thoroughly unaffected, keeping that happy smile on his face.

"So how have you been Cruz?" Blade asked. "Have you met any little girls?!" Cruz chuckled and shook his head.

"I've been good, actually," he told him. "I've been travelling, met some new people, and discovered new things." His face turned grim. "But I assume you've heard about the Virus?" Blade and Eve nodded.

"How could we not?" Eve asked. "It's affecting everyone."

"Yes, but do you know its origins?" Cruz asked. Blade and Eve shook their heads. "Crystal-chan, can you please explain?" Cruz looked at Crystal, who nodded without hesitation.

"Yes, Cruz-sama," she agreed. "It started two and a half years ago in America. A group of scientists gathered together to find a way to create Needless; something about needing weapons for a war. They gathered a bunch of Needless together for testing, some even died, but the scientists thought that a few lives was little compared to how powerful they'd be with more Needless. Some of the surviving Needless went insane and had to be injected with some sort of serum.

"However, just as the scientists thought they could create Needless using a pill, the normal people who swallowed those pills became insane. They destroyed everything in sight, but when morning came, they were normal and didn't remember anything. They had gained Needless powers though.

"There was a catch. If they attacked a normal human with their Needless powers, those powers and insanity was passed on to that person. If a Needless themselves were attacked, they would have limited insanity, but their Fragment would be out of control whenever it was used. These people would go insane over night and remember nothing the next day. This virus spreads quickly though because of so many people testing out their Fragments and travelling everywhere. Few Needless have fought this off." Cruz nodded and kept a blank look on his face, but Aaron, Choko, and Crystal knew better.

"Yes, that is how it happened and what it is exactly," he said. "We have to be on guard from now on. Don't let anyone's attempts hit you. Try to be on everyone's good side, or at the very least, have spot on reflexes. I have survived long enough to find that there is a cure. I just don't know where or what it is." He clenched his fists in his lap and Crystal tried to soothe him in her own emotionless way.

"We need your help to find the cure," Aaron continued for Cruz. "We can't do this on our own. We need all the help we can get and Cruz here told us that you two are two of the strongest Needless out there." Somehow, Blade and Eve looked offended.

"Two of the strongest?" Eve said. "We _are_ the strongest!" Choko scoffed.

"Oh please, I'd like to see you try to beat C-" Cruz placed a hand over her mouth before she could finish that sentence. He smiled politely and shook his head at Choko, as if telling her not to tell them anything. Choko 'hmph'ed, rolling her eyes, and bit Cruz's hand.

"Ow!" Cruz let go of her and glared.

"Well, you didn't remove your hand so that was the easiest option," Choko told him innocently. Crystal smacked Choko on the head.

"Do not hurt Cruz-sama, or do I have to punish you to get my point across?" She said in monotone.

"I'm fine Crystal-chan," Cruz sighed. Crystal nodded and backed away.

"But enough of this depressing talk!" Eve exclaimed. "Let's talk about what's been going on in our lives for the past three years!" Cruz smiled.

"Yes, I agree," he said. "What have you been doing? Have you seen Disc-san, Seto-san, or Solva-san?"

"Disc is actually in the bathroom right now," Blade explained. "Seto and Solva decided to explore the Black Spot a bit more and keep everyone out of trouble. We've been doing that too, but then we heard of the Virus and we're trying to stop it."

"What have you been doing Yamada?" Eve asked. "I would've thought we'd have come across you at some point in the Black Spot." Cruz smiled.

"I've actually been travelling the world, not just Japan," he told them. "I've been to America, England, China, Greece… I met Choko here though. Crystal I met in Canada and Aaron is from America. So now we have acquaintances all over the world."

"Cruz-kun?" A voice spoke from behind them. Cruz turned around to see Disc staring at them.

"Hello Disc-san," he said with a smile.

"Cruz-kun!" Disc cried as she went to tackle him in a hug. He fell to the ground at her weight, but just laughed it off and hugged her as well. He could see Crystal taking out her sword again, but he just waved her off.

"I'm fine, Crystal-chan," he told her as Disc got off of him and he stood up. "Honestly, not everyone is out to kill me." She just stared back at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Cruz-kun, it's been years!" Disc exclaimed. "Who are your friends?" She looked at Aaron, Crystal, and Choko.

"Crystal Fairclough, Aaron Aquila, and Choko Kurosawa," Cruz introduced once again. "I met them while I was travelling the world. Oh, that reminds me, have any of you seen my sister? It's been a while since I myself have seen her…" Disc, Blade, and Eve shook their heads. Cruz sighed in disappointment.

"Oh well, I guess I'll have to wait to see if she shows up…" He said. He and the others spent more time talking until the doors of the café burst open with a large _BOOM!_ and dust flying everywhere.

"Old man, I'm here for my monthly- Oh? Do my eyes deceive me or is that the infamous _Cruz Schild_?"

_**Okay so I know the plot isn't that good BUT there is actually something in there that you may or may not figure out! It's pretty easy to figure out if you know me. BUT ANYWAY, do not expect chapters to come a lot. I have so many other things to do, school is coming up (goddammit) and friends want to hang out and just, UGH.**_


	3. AN - Discontinued

**_Uhh, hi, it's been like... how many years now? Two, three? Idk, but whatever, I haven't bothered to check yet._**

_**Okay, so first of all, I have mentioned a cousin I call Dawn in many of my author's notes, but to be completely and totally honest with you all, I don't actually have a cousin who I constantly talk to and yada yada yada. I am that cousin. I just created her as a defense mechanism of some sort when my depression first started out and I hadn't the slightest clue on how to deal with it.**_

_**So now that that's out of the way, the real reason I am typing this up is to tell you all that I am DISCONTINUING all of my current stories and REWRITING them and then POSTING THEM on my MAIN ACCOUNT Dawnie Grrl. I might not rewrite all of them (For example, I'm not into Fairy Tail much anymore so I may or may not rewrite those).**_

_**The reason for this is I am never on this account anymore but I still love writing. My writing has definitely improved and I would like to share that improvement, but not on this account since it is actual trash. I will write a separate A/N for a few stories that I will be giving more details on under this A/N, which will be posted on all of my stories, except for ones I cringe at and delete immediately upon sight.**_

_**You will probably be able to find out more about me on my main account if you want introductions and updates on what I am currently in the process of writing.**_

_**Thank you for your continued support.**_

_**\- Dawnie Grrl/FantasyLover100**_

* * *

_**WILL NOT BE REWRITTEN FOR ONE OF THE FOLLOWING REASONS:**_

_**-I am not in the fandom anymore**_

_**-I have no idea where to even begin with rewriting this**_

_**-I no longer have interest in it**_

**_-I have forgotten everything about it_**


End file.
